As we enter fall, we are ramping up towards another new year. Are you ready for 2023? This writer can honestly say that he is not.
Now is the time to begin your business planning for 2023.
We have gone through another year of ups and downs and this roller coaster is far from over. With the rate of inflation and the rising number is understaffed businesses we need to be well prepared for the coming year.
As we begin to look back on what has happened, we need to remind ourselves of what we wanted to accomplish. What goals did we set for ourselves for 2022? Did we even have any? Perhaps it was easier to just try and stay afloat then to set an expectation for success. But in doing so you have fallen short and are maybe thinking to yourself that you should have strived for better. Now is the time to evaluate your strategy and start to develop your goals for 2023.
When setting your goals, be sure to look at all aspects of your business. Quality and quantity are of equal value and be sure to consider not only the business but the people who are doing the work. Do you have personal goals or goals for the people that help make your business happen? Perhaps finding out what their goals are will help guide your plan towards success.
Once you have established your goals you need to reflect on the actions taken this past year. Understanding what worked and what didn’t will help guide you into a successful year in business. Do you need to make any adjustments to your marketing? Were there tools that you wanted to use but didn’t? Can your business continue to grow with the systems and plans that you already have in place? Did you try something that didn’t work? This aspect of your planning is crucial. Understanding these details will be the determining factors on which direction your business goes.
If you are struggling to build your plan, there are a multitude of resources on creating effective or successful business plans so make sure that you do your research and find one that works best for you and your business. Understand that it does not have to be concrete. You may start out the year with a plan and then have to reevaluate it again after the first month. That’s okay. Your plan is in place to help guide you in the direction that you want to go.
Being a bit of a video game fan, my best analogy would be comparing it to an open world game. Your business is the map of the world. Your goals are all of the waypoints, quest markers and locations. Your plan is every possible way of getting for one point to another. You are free to roam whatever way you choose to best suit your needs.
Prepare yourself for the adventure to come.
